May Parker
May Parker, commonly known as Aunt May, is a supporting character from the Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in 1962. She's in all three of Sam Raimi's film trilogy, the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man ''trilogy, in the '' Marvel Cinematic Universe trilogy. She is depicted as a housewife who is widowed by the events of the first film. She was the one who encouraged Peter the most throughout the films with her words of wisdom as Uncle Ben had done before his death, in the second movie even managing to make him try to return to his Spider-Man life after giving up the persona. Background History Spider-Man Born in the 1920s or 1930s, in her late 70s or early 80s, Aunt May and Uncle Ben take care of their nephew, Peter Parker for unknown reasons in the absence of his parents. After Ben was shot and killed by a carjacker, Peter and May shared their grief for Uncle Ben. Later, when Peter moves into an apartment with his friend Harry Osborn, Aunt May visited them for Thanksgiving dinner. She was not shy about reprimanding Harry's father Norman for his rude and boorish behavior that day. Shortly thereafter, when Norman learns of Spider-Man's true identity, he attacked May at her home while she was saying her prayers. May is terrified by The Green Goblin's daemonic appearance and hospitalized after The Green Goblin injured her in the attack. Spider-Man 2 After his defeat, May attended Norman's funeral alongside Peter, Mary Jane and Harry. Soon after that, she and Peter visited Ben's grave located elsewhere in the very same cemetery. Aunt May continued to keep her eye on Peter while having her own financial difficulties since the death of her husband. Eventually, the bank forced her to sell her house and live in a smaller apartment. Her opinion of Spider-Man was not high at the time, claiming "the less we see of him, the better." However, when May's visit to the bank with Peter was interrupted by a robbery perpetrated named Doctor Octopus, Octavius took her hostage and climbed up the side of a skyscraper with her. She was rescued by Spider-Man and in return, she helped Spider-Man during the battle by batting Doctor Octopus' head with her umbrella. From that point onward, she believed that Spider-Man was good. It is implied, but never stated that she may have deduced his secret identity as her nephew. Later, Peter's powers began to wane, because of a subconscious desire to live a normal life and decided to give up his costumed persona. When Peter visits his aunt, May speaks fondly of Spider-Man which encourages him to resume his heroic activities. Later, she expresses that she feels that she caused Uncle Ben's death, prompting Peter to admit that he caused the death by not stopping the killer. May is understandably stunned and sad, but later thanks Peter and tells him that admitting the truth to her was a brave thing to do. Spider-Man 3 Six months later Peter informed Aunt May that he intended to ask Mary Jane to marry him after the two embraced. May then told him that he needed to come up with a good way to instigate his proposal and that he needs to put his wife before himself, no matter what. She then elaborated to Peter how Uncle Ben proposed to her and that they would have been married for fifty years that August if Ben have not been killed. She then takes off her own engagement ring and told Peter to use it to propose to Mary Jane. May later went alongside Peter to the police station when Captain Stacy informed them that Flint Marko, Ben's "actual" killer, was still on the run. Later, when Peter informed May about The Sandman's apparent demise at the hands of Spider-Man (under the influence of an alien symbiote), she delivered another speech which was more of a warning to Peter of the danger to oneself in seeking revenge. Peter was at first shocked at his aunt's reaction for he expected Aunt May to be glad since The Sandman was the one who killed Uncle Ben. Peter soon realized that this is not the case and Aunt May says that Uncle Ben would never have wanted such revenge. Much later, May talked to Peter in his apartment where he stated that he'd done terrible things (after separating from the symbiote suit that had caused him to hurt both Mary Jane and Harry). He tried to return her ring to her, but Aunt May says that she knows that he will find a way to put it right and gives it back. Later, May was last seen by attended Harry Osborn's funeral. In other media 'Films' *In Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films, Aunt May was played by Rosemary Harris as a housewife who is widowed by the events of the first film. She was the one who encouraged Peter the most throughout the films with her words of wisdom as Uncle Ben had done before his death, in the second movie even managing to make him try to return to his Spider-Man life after losing his powers. **In the 2002 film Spider-Man, Aunt May and Uncle Ben take care of their nephew, Peter Parker. After Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) is shot and killed by a carjacker, Peter and May share their grief for Uncle Ben. Later, when Peter moves into an apartment with his friend Harry Osborn, Aunt May visits them on Thanksgiving. She is not shy about reprimanding Harry's father Norman for his rude and boorish behavior. Shortly thereafter, when Norman (who has become the villainous Green Goblin), learns Spider-Man's identity, he attacks May at home while she is saying her prayers. May is terrified by the Goblin's demonic appearance, and is hospitalized after the Goblin injures her. May shows up at Norman Osborn's funeral alongside Peter, Mary Jane and Harry; soon after that, she and Peter visit Ben's grave located elsewhere in the cemetery. **In the sequel, Spider-Man 2 (2004), Aunt May continues to look after Peter, and has had financial difficulties since the death of her husband, forcing her to sell the house and live in a smaller apartment (although it is implied that the bank is cheating her out of the house). Her opinion of Spider-Man is not high, claiming "the less we see of him, the better." However, when May's visit to the bank with Peter is interrupted by a robbery perpetrated by Otto Octavius, Octavius takes her hostage and climbs the side of a skyscraper with her. She is in turn, rescued by Spider-Man (and in return, helps Spider-Man during the battle by bashing Octavius in the head with her umbrella), and from that point believes that he was good; it is implied, but never stated, that she may have deduced his secret identity. Later in the film, Peter's powers began to wane because of a subconscious desire to live a normal life, and he decides to give up his costumed persona; May makes a speech which encourages him to resume his heroic activities. She later expresses that she feels she caused Uncle Ben's death ("You wanted to take the subway, and he wanted to drive you. And if I had stopped him, we'd all be having tea together."), prompting Peter to admit that he caused the death by not stopping the killer. May is understandably stunned and sad, but later thanks Peter and tells him that admitting the truth to her was a brave thing to do. When talking to Doctor Octavius, Peter helps him regain his sanity by repeating what May had told him about giving up your dreams sometimes to do what's right. **In Spider-Man 3 (2007), Peter tells Aunt May that he is going to ask Mary Jane to marry him, after which the two embrace. May then tells him that he needs to come up with a good way to initiate the proposal, and that he needs to put his wife before him, no matter what. She then relates to Peter how Uncle Ben proposed to her, and that they would have been married for fifty years "this August", had Ben not been killed. She then takes off her engagement ring and asks Peter to use it to propose to M.J. May is also present alongside Peter when Captain Stacy tells them that Flint Marko, his uncle's "actual" killer, is on the run. She plays a strong role in providing moral support to Peter, but nothing much is really done by her in the third movie, nor is she ever targeted by Spider-Man's foes as in the previous two movies. Later, when Peter informs May about Sandman's apparent demise at the hands of Spider-Man (under the influence of an alien symbiote), she delivers another speech, which is more of a warning to Peter of the danger to oneself in seeking revenge. Peter is at first shocked at his aunt's reaction, for he expected Aunt May to be happy as Sandman was the one who killed Uncle Ben. Peter soon realizes that this is not the case, and Aunt May says that Uncle Ben would never have wanted revenge. Much later, May talks to Peter in his apartment where Peter says that he has done terrible things (after separating from the symbiote suit that had caused him to hurt Mary Jane and Harry). He tries to return her ring to her, but Aunt May says that she knows that he will find a way to put it right, and gives it back. Like May, Peter comes to forgive Sandman who admits he killed Ben by accident while trying to get money to save his daughter's life. May later appears at the end of the film attending Harry Osborn's funeral. *Aunt May was portrayed by Sally Field in the 2012 reboot The Amazing Spider-Man series, and is shown somewhat younger and more strict than in previous depictions. **Throughout the film, she expresses concern for Peter being out late and coming home injured, though he refuses to admit to her where he has been. At the end of the film, despite coming home in serious pain, Peter brings home the eggs she asked him to get in the middle of the film and does not bother to ask what happened. **Field reprises her role as Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. She has become a nursing student to support herself and Peter financially after Peter graduates from high school. She reveals to Peter that she and Ben were visited by government agents a few days after Richard and Mary disappeared and were told that Richard was planning to sell secret weapons to foreign powers. She later comforts Peter during his depression over Gwen Stacy's death and contributes to giving him the confidence he needs to become Spider-Man again, heavily hinting that she knows Peter's secret. *Marisa Tomei portrays Aunt May in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version is much younger than the comics version. *In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter continues trying to keep Spider-Man a secret from May, and she shows concern when she sees how close the criminal activity Spider-Man regularly deals with is close to their neighborhood. When Peter "loses the Stark internship," Aunt May comforts him. She assists Peter in preparing for the homecoming dance after he asks Liz Allan out. At the end of the film, when Peter receives the Spider-Man suit back from Tony, Aunt May witnesses him put it on and reacts in shock with the scene ending with her saying "What the f-" before it cuts to the credits. **Tomei will reprise her role in Spider-Man: Far From Home.[65] *Lily Tomlin voiced Aunt May in the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[66] After her Peter Parker dies, she ends up housing alternate versions of Spider-Man in her home and gives them access to Peter's underground hideout in her backyard. Aunt May helps Miles Morales create his own Spider-Man suit and provides him modifications of Peter's web shooters. It was mentioned by the alternate Spider-Man that Miles first met that his Aunt May is dead. 'Television' *Aunt May Parker appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man voiced by Deborah Strang. In "Persona", she began to feel faint while cooking dinner, but shook if off the moment Peter arrives. In "Group Therapy", she suffered a heart attack while out to a Broadway show with her friend Anna Watson during the Sinister Six's attack. Peter, who was under the influence of the symbiote suit, was unaware of it until Mary Jane Watson visited to tell him May was in the hospital. She recovered and headed back home for a Thanksgiving dinner with Peter, her doctor, Gwen and Captain George Stacy at the end of the first season, where May informed the others that she was writing a cookbook and had already received an advance from a publisher. In Season 2 she is revealed to be feeling much better after the heart attack though Peter still worries about her. She and her doctor, Doctor Bromwell, have also seem to have a liking over each other. The doctor described her as his favorite heart patient and even checking her up at her own home. She does not know that her nephew is Spider-Man and when asked by the reporter Ned Leeds if he is Spider-Man she thought "she was being Punk'd." After Peter's feelings were mixed in between Liz Allan and Gwen Stacy she gave Peter advice that he needed to be honest between both of the girls but before that he must be honest with himself. 'Video games' *Aunt May was featured in the Spider-Man 2 video game voiced by Mindy Sterling. *Aunt May appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 voiced by Diane Michelle. Gallery